March 3, 2010

If you ever wondered whether you can still “get got” for your money once you’ve died, the answer is yes.

Police report that an emergency room worker at Westchester Medical Center has been arrested for stealing credit cards from a dying plane crash victim, and then going on a buck wild spending spree.

Anthony Vassell, 33, of the Bronx, allegedly stole the credit cards of Daniel Bisk, 53, of Pleasantville, who was flown to the hospital by medical helicopter after a small plane he was flying in crashed in the woods on November 22. The pilot was killed in the crash, and Bisk ultimately died of his injuries on December 1.

That’s when Vassell, a patient care worker, saw an opportunity to ball out with a dead guy’s money, police say.

A shopping spree then ensued at places like Bloomingdale’s, Armani Exchange and Best Buy, where roughly $2,000 was charged on Mr. Bisk’s credit cards after he was pronounced dead and gone.

Officials arrested Vassell Tuesday as he was leaving his job, and they picked up his girlfriend, Lisa Dacosta, 29, in the Bronx later in the morning Tuesday.

Vassell and Dacosta have been arrested and charged with grand larceny, identity theft, unlawful possession of personal identification information, petty larceny and forgery.

What’s worse? Vassell has done this whole “steal from ER patients” thing before: Public Safety Commissioner George Longworth reports that Vassell was accused in October of stealing a credit card from another patient who came to the emergency room. Yikes.